Forum Financial Management LP Takes $200,000 Position in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 681 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Equifax by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 36,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,867,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Equifax by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. purchased a new position in Equifax in the 3rd quarter valued at $234,000. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Equifax by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Equifax by 3.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Equifax from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Equifax from $300.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Equifax from $290.00 to $333.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Equifax in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Equifax from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equifax currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.47.

Equifax Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE EFX opened at $269.63 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.42 billion, a PE ratio of 59.26, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. Equifax Inc. has a twelve month low of $179.13 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.82.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The credit services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion. Equifax had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 10.07%. Equifax’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equifax Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Equifax’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of Equifax stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total value of $272,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark W. Begor sold 58,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $15,770,648.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,532,909.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John J. Kelley III sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.92, for a total transaction of $272,920.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,535.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

About Equifax

Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.